Smythe Trophy winner Sidney Crosby has yet to play this seaso

MANCHESTER, England -- With one of the worlds best strikers bearing down on him, Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had a quick decision to make as he received the ball five meters (yards) outside his penalty box.Smash it downfield and quickly retreat to his area? Or keep possession and instigate another attack for his team?Most goalkeepers in that situation would choose the safer first option, but not Bravo. Instead, he attempted a delicate lob-pass over Luis Suarez to teammate Fernandinho -- and completely fluffed it.The mis-hit pass went straight to Suarez, whose goal-bound return shot was blocked by the outstretched hands of Bravo outside the area. Immediate red card and, just like that, any realistic chance of City fighting back from 1-0 down vanished at Camp Nou.City lost 4-0 to Barcelona on Wednesday in a Champions League game that turned on this avoidable mistake by Chiles international goalkeeper in the 53rd minute.The author of the error was perhaps not Bravo, but his coach.One of Pep Guardiolas footballing philosophies is that the goalkeeper must play the ball out from the back at all costs. Thats why, months into his tenure at City, Guardiola made the big call to drop long-serving goalkeeper Joe Hart and sign Bravo from former club Barcelona.There will be no change. It stays the same, Guardiola said after the Barcelona match. Im sorry, until the last day of my career as a coach, I will try to play from our goalkeeper.Guardiola knows its a risky approach -- he says so openly and regularly -- but he believes the value of retaining possession outweighs the chances of making a mistake.Most of the time, when we play good, it starts from there, he said.However, having that rigid policy at his previous clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, is fine considering the quality and type of goalkeepers and defenders that Guardiola had at his disposal. At City, the technique of some of his players isnt as good and he may be asking too much of defenders like Nicolas Otamendi, Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta to keep possession in often exacting situations.Bravo is one of the best ball-playing goalkeepers in the world -- he started out as a forward as teenager -- and center back John Stones was also bought by Guardiola this summer for the primary reason that he is good with the ball at his feet. The rest of the back line is not so comfortable, however.Very brave, but very stupid, was the verdict of former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane, analyzing on British television, when asked about the way Guardiola encourages Bravo to play the ball from the back.Bravo has had an up-and-down start to his City career.Handed his debut in the Manchester derby against United at Old Trafford, he dropped a high ball to allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score a goal that reduced the deficit to 2-1.Later that game, Bravo might have been shown a red card and conceded a penalty when he dribbled away from Ibrahimovic in his area, only to take a heavy touch and then dive in studs-first at Wayne Rooney as the forward went for the ball. Bravo just about connected with the ball.Otherwise, he has looked composed and convincing with the ball at his feet -- until his high-profile Camp Nou mistake.It is a game of mistakes and correct decisions, Bravo said. 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CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Motivation abounds for the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks, who will renew acquaintances on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.Most obviously, its the first meeting between the clubs since they squared off in the Stanley Cup final last spring.That might be a bigger deal for San Jose, which lost in six games as the Penguins clinched the title and skated around with the Stanley Cup on the Sharks home ice.Obviously, it doesnt feel good when you lose to a team in the final, so you take a little pride in wanting to beat them, and you definitely get a little more hyped up for those kinds of games, San Jose center Chris Tierney told the San Jose Mercury News.The Sharks are 3-1 following a 3-2 win Tuesday against the New York Islanders.The defending champion Penguins already have the bragging rights, but they are looking at this as a big game in part on what has happened much more recently.After winning their first two games, the Penguins (2-1-1) have lost two in a row -- including a 4-0 defeat at Montreal on Tuesday that left them largely dissatisfied with their effort and discipline.That puts a bit different spin on the rematch with the Sharks.Theyre well aware of how good San Jose is and what the challenge is going to be, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said of his players. The one thing about this league is there are no easy games. Youve got to bring your A-game each and every night to give yourself a chance.But certainly, coming off the type of game we had (Tuesday) night and moving forward, there should be plenty of motivation for us to make sure that we respond the right way.That doesnt mean the Sharks come in as a faceless opponent.I think itll be ramped up a little bit, Penguins winger Bryan Rust said. Theyre going to have a chip on their shoulder. And we obviously didnt play great (Tuesday), so were going to have a littlle chip on our shoulder.dddddddddddd I think its going to be a good, physical, playoff-like atmosphere.San Jose coach Pete DeBoer is interested in seeing what the atmosphere will be.I dont know what the emotions will be until I get there, he told the San Jose Mercury News. Its tough to go on that long of a journey and then lose the way we did. I dont think there was any doubt that they deserved to win. But at the same time, for us, its a chance to ... make a statement that we are a different team this year.Pittsburgh returned its team almost completely intact, but there will be at least a couple of missing parts Thursday. Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sidney Crosby has yet to play this season because of a concussion and goaltender Matt Murray is out while he recovers from a broken thumb.In addition, top defenseman Kris Letang (upper body) and winger Conor Sheary (eye) are day to day after leaving Tuesdays game.San Jose was the bigger, more physical club in the final. It added a couple of players during the offseason in forward Mikkel Boedker and defenseman David Schlemko that appeared to be a direct attempt to add the kind of speed that Pittsburgh used to its advantage last spring.The teams meet twice this season, with the second game coming Nov. 5 in San Jose. It just happens that this first rematch comes in the early days of the season.Now that its here, itll be good. Itll be fun, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski told the Mercury News. We would have liked a better result the last time we played that team, but its two points. Its a new year. Its important that we keep building our game and keep trying to get better. (Were) a long ways from getting back to that position, and this is another good team that well be playing. ' ' '